Stanford Center for Internet and Society

This is a great ruling for cable giants and a bad ruling for consumers. For the opinion, click here.

Earthlink brief
Petitioner States and Consumer Groups
My home state of New Jersey's Brief

The Cyberlaw Clinic also assisted the AARP in writing an amicus brief in
Brand-X Internet Services v. FCC. The brief argued that by categorizing
cable broadband as a telecommunications service, the Court would force the
FCC to consider consumer concerns and preserve customer choice in the ISP
market. Such concerns include the affordable pricing, superior customer
service, diversity of options, and rapid technological innovation that have
characterized the early growth of the Internet. It argued that if cable
broadband continues to be classified as an information service, these
consumer benefits will continue to erode as cable companies use their

The American Civil Liberties Union, represented by members of the Cyberlaw Clinic, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Supreme Court supporting open access to cable Internet lines. The case challenges an FCC determination that cable Internet service is not a "telecommunications service" presumptively subject to the sort of common carrier regulations historically applied to telephone service. The brief lays out the ways in which cable companies can control their customers' Internet experience and prevent them from switching to a viable alternative broadband provider, and argues that without meaningful consumer choice, monopoly providers of cable lines will be able to interfere with the free speech and privacy of Internet users.

The Media Access Project has additional resources on this issue available at their web site.

Download the ACLU Brief ACLU Amicus Brief in Brand X Internet Services vs. FCC.

On October 31st, 2002, the Center for Internet & Society
filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon in Brand X Internet Services,
et al. v. Federal Communications Commission.

The ACLU brief urges the Court to reverse the FCC’s decision classifying cable modem service as an interstate information service. Director Jennifer Granick, Fellow Elizabeth Rader and students Jennifer Elliott and Kalpana Srinivasan worked on the brief.